Southwest Minnesota State 4 Wayne State 3 (OT)

            In a game that wasn't short of action, it was the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State that sparked a second half comeback and scored the winning goal in overtime at the WSC Soccer Pitch on Sunday afternoon. The Mustangs improve to 2-3 on the season with a NSIC mark of 2-1, while Wayne State falls to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in conference action.
            It didn't take long for the Wildcats to pick up where they left off on Friday, and within five minutes of the opening whistle Wayne State was on the board through a Natalie Rech header off a Sophia Ketchmark corner kick.
            Not even five minutes after the restart the Wildcats had doubled their advantage again. Brooke Buzzell weaved her way past a Mustang defender to the endline before sliding a pass into the middle of the box, where sophomore Rylie Wehner improved her tally to three goals in three games as she made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
            Wehner almost got her second of the day, but an impressive reaction save from Mustang goalkeeper Jessica Craigmile kept the advantage at 2-0. Wayne State got their third goal however from the feet of freshman Madison Kemp in the 19^th minute. Picking up the ball 30 yards from goal on the left touchline, she maneuvered past one defender and worked her way in the box. Another quick move saw her one-on-one with the keeper and a precise finish gave her a second goal of the season and all things seemingly looked in favor of the Wildcats.
            The first half ended 3-0 in favor of the Wildcats as they outshot the Mustangs by a margin of 9-2. Rachel Grisham wasn't called into action in the first half while Craigmile notched four saves in the opening 45 minutes.
            With the wind at the back of SMSU for the second half, they showed an ounce of life after a corner kick from Kelli Wentz fell to the feet of Abbey Hoisington, who cleanly volleyed it into the back of the net to cut the deficit to two in the 61^st minute. 16 minutes later a free-kick routine from the Mustangs resulted in an Erin Fisher finish to cut the lead to one for the Wildcats.
            Defending against the wind and against momentum, the Wildcats held off the Mustangs for the next 13 minutes, but were unable to pick up Emily Hofmann, who fired a cross from 35 yards out that ended up turning into a superb shot, with a stretched-out Grisham unable to come up with a save. At 88:55, the score turned level to 3-3 and was shortly sent into overtime.
            Wayne State controlled the first eight minutes of overtime and looked the team more likely to break through, but it was a Mustang goal with :15 seconds left in the first overtime that sealed the victory for the Mustangs and completed their comeback with a 4-3 win.
            Wayne State outshot Southwest Minnesota State 16-8 in the game, while holding a 6-3 advantage in corners. Wehner had a game high five shots, while Rech and Kemp also accounted for three shots each. Grisham finished with two saves.
            The Wildcats will be on the road next weekend, visiting Minot State Friday evening at 7 p.m. followed by a Sunday 1 p.m. match at the University of Mary.